The invention relates to a method for producing nonwoven fiber material for the manufacture of filters in the tobacco industry. The invention furthermore relates to a continuous rod machine for use in the tobacco industry, comprising at least one filter-material feeding device that supplies metered amounts of filter material and a continuous rod forming device in which the filter material can be formed and in particular compiled into a continuous rod.
A method for producing a nonwoven fiber composite and a corresponding continuous rod machine for the manufacture of filters in the tobacco industry is known from British patent document GB 718 332. According to this document, material cuttings are produced with a tobacco cutter and these are fed to a continuous-rod machine, such as cigarette rod machines. The cuttings are impregnated with a chemical agent to prevent an undesirable taste and to prevent them from falling out of the end pieces of the respectively produced filters The cuttings are conveyed with a roller to the operating range of a spiked feed roller and are then moved with the spiked feed roller to a conveying belt, so that they can subsequently be fed to a different spiked roller. The cuttings are then knocked from this spiked feed roller by a different spiked or beater roller and supplied to a format device where the continuous filter rod is formed by wrapping a material web around the fiber rod. The cuttings consist of paper, cellulose, textile, synthetic materials and the like and have a texture that is similar to cut tobacco.
The shape of the cuttings makes it very difficult to produce filters with homogeneous characteristics. In addition, the options of adjusting the filter characteristics are very limited.